Robert Chandler Godwin

Noted music historian, choral musician and devoted educator Robert Chandler Godwin died on Saturday, June 6, 2015, at Covenant Care Center in FL. Prior to moving to Panama City in 2006, Dr. Godwin was for 20 years Chairman of the Department of Music and professor of music history and theory at the University of Maine. During his tenure there he developed the Music Department into a nationally recognized institution for the study of music, while the Summer Chamber Music School he established attracted a nationally famous faculty, with students from all over the world attending. He also founded the School of Performing Arts and was instrumental in building the Maine Center for the Arts with its magnificent concert hall on campus. Following his retirement, he and his wife, Norma, moved down to Portland, ME, where he became active with the School of Music at the University of Southern Maine. He trained to become a docent at the Portland Museum of Art and served as President of its Docent Council. He was a member of the Board of Directors of the prominent Choral Art Society of Portland, and taught courses in music history in the Senior College of the University of Southern Maine. Since moving to Panama City, he assisted in organizing the new Pro Arte Chorale which is directed by Jody Schnell, and became a member of the First Presbyterian Church of P.C. where he sang in its Chancel Choir. A native of the Eastern Shore of Maryland where he was born on May 24, 1920, Bob studied at the former Juilliard School of Music in New York, earned a Master's degree in performance and conducting at the Eastman School of Music in Rochester, NY, and a doctorate in musicology and conducting at the University of Illinois, Urbana/Champaign. Prior to his appointment as Department Chairman at the Univ. of Maine, he was director of choral activities at North Dakota State University, Fargo. There he founded the NDSU Concert Choir which established a national reputation as one of the finest college choirs in the country. In addition to annual coast-to-coast concert tours, he led the choir on a month-long tour of Western Europe during the summer of 1966. Presenting concerts in many of the great European concert halls, opera houses, and churches, the highlight of that tour was a performance at St. Peter's Basilica in Rome before an audience of 70,000. On behalf of Pope Paul VI, an invitation had been extended to the choir to sing on that occasion, and in a private ceremony afterwards, the Pope presented Dr. Godwin with his personal medallion. Other accomplishments included helping to establish the American Choral Directors Association (ACDA) in 1959, serving as the first Treasurer of that national organization. For years Bob also served as director of music at several churches in Fargo and Urbana. But his greatest joy over the years was his close association with many hundreds of college students, especially those who participated in the choral ensembles he trained and directed, many of whom kept in touch with their former director throughout the remainder of his life. Early in his career he was a member of the Collegiate Chorale founded in New York by Mr. Robert Shaw, which preceded the famed Robert Shaw Chorale. He entered military service in January 1942, and served as an Armor (tank) Officer in an armored division assigned to General George Patton's Third U.S. Army, and was awarded several medals and decorations. He was recalled to active duty during the Korean conflict, serving for an additional three years. Having attained the rank of Lt. Colonel, he remained in the inactive reserve, subsequently becoming President of the Maine Chapter, Reserve Officers Association. Surviving are his wife, Norma Carosi Godwin originally from Washington, DC; his children; grandchildren; and stepdaughters; and their families that are scattered across the country. A service will be held on Wednesday, June 17, 2015, at 11:00 a.m. at Fellows, Helfenbein & Newnam Funeral Home, 130 Speer Road, Chestertown, MD. Interment will be in Sudlersville Cemetery, following the service. In lieu of flowers, the family request that memorial contributions be made to the Music Ministry of First Presbyterian Church, 100 E. 7th St., Panama City, FL 32401 in memory of Bob Godwin. May flights of angels sing thee to thy rest.

Robert Chandler Godwin

May 24, 1920 - June 7, 2015